The ten Bulgarians who have declared the highest income for 2010 will pay BGN 4.5 M in taxes, the National Revenue Agency, NRA, announced Monday.
The data comes from the already processed personal income tax declarations across the entire country.
The amount of the income of the top 10 earners, after deductions, is BGN 46.4 M.
The 10 wealthiest Bulgarians work in the area of financial trading, consulting and legal services.
Most of them have used the 5% rebate offered by NRA to...

Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister, Traicho Traikov, has asked for guarantees from Russia for enough fuels for the country's market amidst reports that the Federation is halting oil export.
On Sunday, on the grounds of an unprecedented global fuels crisis, Russia stopped exporting oil products with Russian media reporting that fuels export tax has gone up on May 1 by 44% to reach USD 408 per ton. With the measure, the Russian government aims at making oil products export less...

Bulgaria's agriculture sector appears to be taking off, according to data presented by the Agriculture Ministry and the National Statistical Institute.
Agriculture is one of the few sectors of the Bulgarian economy with positive trade balance, according to the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Foods.
In 2010, Bulgaria's agriculture trade balance was positive USD 944 M, up from a positive USD 385 M in 2009.
The Agriculture Ministry boasts that what it describes as "proactive export...

Croatia's EU prospects and ways to boost economic and trade ties with Bulgaria will top the agenda of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov during his one-day official visit to Zagreb on Wednesday.
The Bulgarian delegation includes Minister of Economy and Energy Traicho Traikov and Minister of Culture Vezhdi Rashidov.
The visit comes at the invitation of Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor who herself visited Bulgaria in April last year.
A cultural co-operation agreement until 2013 is to be...

Vast construction projects in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, such as malls, office buildings, trade centers and residential buildings have been launched again as the financial crisis is slowly going away.
Mall Bulgaria, Paradise Center, San Stefano Plaza, the Winslow Gardens Residential Complex, the Millennium Center office building are among the ambitious projects which have started unfreezing, the Dnevnik daily reports. The first Bulgarian IKEA is expected to be opened after its construction...

The manager of Bulgaria's sole nuclear power plant Kozloduy has been threatened with being "knocked off" unless he keeps quiet about an incident on the first day of March in 2006, according to fresh diplomatic cables of the US embassy in Sofia, revealed on WikiLeaks.
The cables, published by the site for investigative journalism www.bivol.bg, are entitled "Nuclear power incident highlights Bulgaria's pre-accession jitters" and were sent on May 19, 2006.
Authorities on March 1 discovered...

Bulgaria's state cigarette producer Bulgartabac Holding, whose management has been harshly criticized in recent years, will be declared for privatization on Tuesday after years of procrastination.
The long-delayed procedure will be given the go-ahead by the agency for privatization and post-privatization control.
The sale of Bulgartabac Holding AD, Sopot-based Vazovski Mashinostroitelni Zavodi or VMZ, and the minority stakes in the electricity distributors have been said to be a must-do...

Bulgaria's General Government Sector reported in 2010 a government deficit of BGN 2 269,2 M or 3,2 % of GDP, according to National Statistical Institute's preliminary data.
The main part of the deficit is formed by the Central Government sub-sector, amounting to BGN 1 710.6 M - 2.4% of GDP, followed by the Social Security Funds sub-sector - 806.8 million BGN or 1.1% of GDP. The Local Government sub-sector reported a surplus of BGN 248.3 M or 0.4% of GDP.
The Government Debt of Bulgaria...

A consortium including a company controlled by Vasil Bozhkov, one of Bulgaria's richest and most high-profile businessmen, won the bid for the construction of a section of the Maritsa Highway.
The "Maritsa Highway" consortium between Bozhkov's Patnostroitelna Tehnika and Austrian Porr Technobau got the lowest bid for the 34-km section between Dimitrovgrad and Harmanli.
The offer was for BGN 122.137 VAT excluded, given a forecast price of BGN 200.
A record number of companies...

A mission of the International Monetary Fund will visit Bulgaria's capital Sofia during the period May 10-20, 2011 to hold regular bilateral discussions on economic policies with the Bulgarian authorities, the fund announced.
This is part of the IMF's surveillance under Article IV of the IMF's Articles of Agreement. The mission will be headed by Mrs. Catriona Purfield.
"The mission will meet with officials from the Ministry of Finance, the Bulgarian National Bank, other government...

Korea's ??&G, Japan Tobacco International, Czech and British investment funds have declared interest in the privatization of Bulgaria's state cigarette producer Bulgartabac Holding, according to media reports.
Korean KT&G had voiced interest in the privatization of Bulgartabac as early as during the term of the government of Simeon Saxe-Coburg.
KT&G is the largest cigarette and tobacco company in Korea, whose share accounts for 80% of the local market. Over the last ten years the company...

Korea's КТ&G, Japan Tobacco International, Philip Morris and a few financial investors have declared interest in the privatization of Bulgaria's state cigarette producer Bulgartabac Holding, according to the consultant of the deal.
A majority stake - 79,83% - in Bulgaria's state cigarette producer Bulgartabac Holding, whose management has been harshly criticized in recent years, was put on sale on Tuesday after years of procrastination.
The long-delayed procedure will be...

TransGlobal Assets, an Oregon-based company, has contracted Bulgarian construction firm Sofstroy for complete the development of the White Lagoon Black Sea resort, a USD 400 M project.
After on Friday, the American firm announced plans to acquire a Bulgarian Black Sea resort development, it has now announced it has signed a Letter of Intent with Sofstroy Construction of Sofia, Bulgaria, to serve as General Contractor to complete the build out of the new beachfront development named the White...

US energy company Westinghouse presented Tuesday a new generation nuclear reactor in Sofia by invitation of Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy Traicho Traikov.
The model of the 3+ generation reactor in question is AP 1000 and it takes into fullest possible account the issue of safety.
Tuesday minister Traikov also met Westinghouse vice-president for Southern Europe Jose Gutierres, who presented his company's advances in the field of safety management systems for NPPs.
Another...

The demand for gas in Europe has marked new records, according to an announcement by Russian gas giant Gazprom.
"The European gas marked is breaking all records. During this April Gazprom will have to fulfill deliveries that are larger than those for some winter months," stated company CEO Alexei Miller.
The Gazprom CEO added that he expects those records to be broken again within 2011, according to Russian agency RIA Novosti.
The Russian company expects December long-term contract...

Residents of Lyulin, one of the largest neighborhoods of Bulgaria's capital Sofia, gave a press-conference Monday to announce their demands for a ban on construction in their area.
Citizens, gathered in a number of organizations and initiative committees, voiced anger at what they saw as uncontrolled construction encroaching on public space in the neighborhood and additionally worsening their living conditions.
They have sent out letters to the highest state officers, including Parliament...

The Bulgarian Monbat battery producer, as well as its daughter company, Monbat Recycling SRL, have registered a 22% increase in revenues in the first quarter of 2011.
Monbat's sales revenue for the first 3 months of the year have reached BGN 55.8 M, the company has announced. Most of the company's production goes for export.
Monbat is a company which manufactures lead-acid batteries for various applications. Its product range includes starter batteries, stationary batteries, leisure,...

The Bulgarian Belene NPP will surely be constructed, the Russian Ambassador to the Balkan country, Yuriy Isakov, declared Saturday.
He was positive that the project is safe and financially rational.
"I am 100% sure that Belene NPP will be constructed. The project is beneficial for Bulgaria, Russia and Europe. It will provide clean, cheap and stable energy, that is why I am so enthusiastic. We are absolutely calm," Isakov told the Russian NTV, according to the Bulgarian 24 chasa...

The crude construction of Bulgaria's first National Sports Arena has been completed ahead of schedule by the state company Glavbolgarstroy.
The construction of the 12 410-seat arena, which will be opened on June 24, 2011, has cost BGN 108 M, or BGN 22 M less than the initially announced price.
The annual operation costs of the sports facility will be about BGN 2.5 M, according to a report of Mediapool, which points out that the project has been a controversial one because of the special...

The management of Bulgaria's only operational Kozloduy NPP has denied being involved in any way in the ongoing Bulgarian-Russian talks for the construction a second nuclear plant in Belene.
What is more, senior Bulgarian officials made it clear Friday that Bulgaria must be very careful in the talks with Russia on the Belene project because if Bulgaria backs out of it, then Russia can block the extension of the life of Kozloduy's two operational reactors.
On Thursday, the Vice President of...